I just wrapped up my very first logo design this week. The logo is very much in keeping with the style of my illustrations thus far.

Collaboration is something I instantly gravitate towards. There is something about the exchange of ideas that I find so exciting. Always have and I hope to keep this mindset in all aspects of my work and life. Working with someone to realize their ideas in design and print is so satisfying. It's a definite bonus when you present your client with something beyond their expectations or sell them on something that may be better tailored to their brand identity. I'm designing brands now! Fun!

Hah! I just hinted at BRAND IDENTITY! Your girl is doing more graphic design work and liking it. So if you or a friend has a project in mind let me help you realize your ideas in design and print. I'd be happy to start designing something you'll absolutely love.

p.s. Leave a comment below with your thoughts. Also be sure to check out the lovely, Bal Claire's full-service wedding and event consultant firm. You'll be in good hands I promise!

It really does mean a great deal to me when you reach out to say hi. So thank you for tagging along and for your continued support. This post is dedicated to all of you darlings. Thinking of my East Coast school buds. ;)

Tag line: I was brainstorming with my friend N and we came up with the idea to include a tag line on the back of the cards to showcase that it is in fact locally made. Since greeting cards are an intimate exchange of thoughts why not make it a little more personal from me to you. You'll find the following tag line on the back of my work.

"Made and printed for you in Vancouver"

You seem to have some questions about my process and how it is all printed, etc. Anyways, I thought I'd also share some production photos of my work coming off the digital press and onto post production (trim/score/fold)! Thanks again S!

Illustrations: I start off with an idea or theme, find reference images to create an image bank. If you saw my desktop, you'd probably scream WTF or some sort of hail mary! The screen is literally packed with thumbnail images pulled off the internet. Chaos, yes, but it's an organized chaos I swear!

For those of you who have asked if I use clip art, the answer is no, it's all me baby. The image bank is used to create a loose composition of ideas that I use to draw.

The next step involves Adobe Illustrator and I absolutely love love this program. It uses the cartesian curve which means a line is a 'line' and not made up of tiny pixels. You'll notice this difference when you create a line in Photoshop, the lines are often blurry. The cartesian curve also allows you to create these vector drawings that can be scaled up or down, so one image or part of an image may have several applications.

The illustrations are drawn with a black stroke and white fill. Once complete colour is added, stroke weights are exaggerated and embellished using the various stroke tools. I like to use the pantone colour library because there is an extensive range in colour swatches. At times I create my own swatches if one is not readily available in the pantone library.

Printing: The files are uploaded to a secure FTP server and sent for sample proofs. Proofs are a great way to ensure no colour shifting occurs because the digital file will differ in colour from the printed version. Proofs are especially handy when you are using a coloured paper in place of a white sheet. Note: even though I use the pantone library, my work is not printed in pantone colours, this is very very expensive and is not necessary. Generally speaking pantone colours are used in trademarked logos like the red in Coca Cola is always that colour red.

I hope I've taken care of your questions. Drop me a line if you have more questions.

I opened up my google search engine today only to be pleasantly surprised by the memory of my favorite childhood storyteller. If Mr. Dressup brings back memories of a more carefree you watching some of the best children's TV, then we're both on the same wavelength. Do you remember snuggling up with your parents watching Mr. Dressup, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers and The friendly giant? Ah memories, good times.

My website is finally online friends! It's been a long time coming and I am really happy with the way it turned out. Who knew setting up a website using templates was as easy as clicking and dragging, I'm definitely sold.

"Nature is my springboard. From her I get my initial impetus. I have tried to relate the visible drama of mountains, trees, and bleached fields with the fantasy of wind blowing and changing colors and forms."-- Milton Avery

Click on this LINK to stream or download that sound bite online. Thanks again Vanessa.

The Storytelling Show is all about promoting women and their stories, often highlighting young women entrepreneurs in the community doing interesting stuff. Vanessa has been hosting the show for about two years now.

This was the first year I did the crawl. I went with my friend N. She and I started our Saturday afternoon with coffee at Revolver before we braved the rain. We made our way through Gastown to the studios on Railway Street, where we learned there was a printable map. The beginning of our crawl was very haphazard-like, once we acquired a map we were better prepared to make our way down to the Parker St area studios. By the time we reached the 'hub' on Parker Street we were absolutely knackered!

Visiting all of these spaces and talking to the artists I could see myself in a live/work space. I am definitely looking forward to working towards this goal. A huge thanks to all the artist for opening up their spaces, it was nice learning about your artist practices.

Lessons learned:

HAVE A PLAN

BE PREPARED... armed with a MAP of the crawl!

STRETCH your crawl over 2-3 days

START in the 'hub' on Parker St as there are two buildings to tour: 1000 Parker St & The Mergatroid Building

DINNER is a must... That pho was well deserved!

Let's CRAWL! The ESCC is a free 3-day event, Nov 16-18, where EastVan artists open their studios and spaces to the public. The event involves painters, jewelers, sculptors, furniture makers, musicians, photographers, writers, printmakers, etc. There is a wide range of emerging artists to those who are more internationally established. This event allows the artists to engage with the public on a larger scale, encourage visibility as well as promoting their work.